According to the Economic Survey 2020-21, the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is expected to make India an integral part of the global supply chain and create huge employment opportunities especially for the 10 sectors identified under the scheme.
It added that the scheme will help Indian manufacturers become globally competitive, attract investment in the areas of core competency and cutting-edge technology. Further, it will also establish backward linkages with the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector in the country, which, in turn, will lead to more inclusive growth and create huge employment opportunities.
Under the scheme, the government has earmarked the highest amount of incentive for the automobile and its components sector amounting to Rs 570.42 billion while the mobile sector had been granted an incentive of around Rs 409.51 billion. Some other sectors included under PLI are advance cell chemistry battery (Rs 181 billion), electronic and technology products (Rs 50 billion), pharmaceutical drugs (Rs 150 billion), and telecom and network products (Rs 121.95 billion). The respective ministries of the sectors included under the PLI scheme are working on detailed guidelines for rolling out the incentives.
Meanwhile, the survey added that foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows between April-September 2020 received a big push from the technology sector (computer software and hardware sector) worth $17.55 billion. This was a 336 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.
The survey stated that software exports, with a share of 49.3 per cent in total services exports remained resilient with higher demand for digital support, cloud services and infrastructure modernisation catering to the new challenges posed by the pandemic. A majority of software companies which had reported negative revenue growth in first quarter (Q1) of FY2020-21, have shown signs of a rebound in second quarter (Q2) with positive sequential growth on account of the increased revenue from their financial, banking and insurance, retail, life sciences and health care units, it added.
